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I actually live in the DC suburbs (College Park) and although I am slightly bias, I would take DC burbs hands down.
The #1 factor is transit. I can get into the city within 20 mins using Metro or MARC commuter train. Houston only has light rail. The DC area has a lot of urban walkable suburbs like Silver Spring, Arlington, Bethesda, and Alexandria comparable to Houston inside the 610 loop. Not only do we have roads and transit connected to DC but our bike infrastructure is built-up and connected. We have an area bikeshare that has stations not only in the city but surrounding suburban communities as well. The bike trails connect the suburbs with the city. I can and have biked from my house in College Park to Nats Park using mostly bike trails. A lot of cities don't have this type of connectivity and why I like the DC area despite some of its challenges.
I don't hate Houston, just think it's not the value it was say 10 years ago. But you don't want to drive so much - as such, this does not compute.
You can get by without a car in Houston, but the deck's rather stacked against you in all but a few select areas, more than they would be in a place like Bethesda or Silver Spring. I could ride into central DC from there in the time it would take me to ride Houston METRO to the Downtown/Midtown area from just outside the South Loop where I was living when I first joined this forum.
Yes, in this situation I would be driving less living in Houston, oddly enough.
I'm actually familiar with Bethesda, one of my college buddies and his wife live there. Bethesda does have a metro stop and the downtown area is pretty dense, but if I were to live in a SFH in Bethesda I would likely be outside of a short walking distance of the metro.
I would also rather live in a bungalow on a street like this:
Anyway, Yes, living in the Heights or Montrose probably would entail less driving than Bethesda. I have a buddy who lives in Montrose and he has the option of a 7 min drive downtown to his office or hop a bus that runs every 15 min. He has these options while also having the ability to have a back yard garden should he so wish, benefits of a great location.
Anyway, Yes, living in the Heights or Montrose probably would entail less driving than Bethesda. I have a buddy who lives in Montrose and he has the option of a 7 min drive downtown to his office or hop a bus that runs every 15 min. He has these options while also having the ability to have a back yard garden should he so wish, benefits of a great location.
I'm quite familiar with the 82 Westheimer bus. It's pretty reliable as METRO bus service goes. Going north or south from Montrose on the bus is where things get a little higgeldy. 34 bus on Montrose Blvd. or the Inner Loop circulator on Shepherd are more limited service.
Good place to bike if you mind some pretty clueless drivers. My brother almost got himself killed riding his a few years ago when he was living off Taft (on Stratford I think).
Because D.C is a small city this is like asking do you want to live in Uptown- (Arlington/Alexandria) vs. West U Place/River Oaks- (NW D.C). Uptown would arguably be the more urban neighborhood than those two neighborhoods.
Uptown Houston is a place that illustrates how "urban" does not mean "has tall buildings."
Long, wide blocks that discourage walking. Uptown Houston is like most of the city, built for cars. Want to get downtown? Well, there's that 82 bus. Long, pokey ride.
With a terrible sidewalk and mostly suburban apartment development is more urban than those inner city neighborhoods (West U is an island suburb). Arlington/Alexandria aren't far from D.C at all because D.C city limts are quite small and when you look at were Downtown D.C is we are literally talking about neighborhoods that border Downtown D.C across a river, essentially a 2-8 mile difference from the center of D.C. Now when we talk about Houston we are talking about a 2-8 mile distance, If Houston was drawn similar to D.C, Uptown wouldn't even be in the city limits, and would be were Arlington/Alexandria is. Now Uptown isn't the best example but imagine if https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7094...7i13312!8i6656
The Texas Medical Center was in a suburb? Saying a place like Arlington/Alexandria/Silver Spring/ Bethesda as a suburb is a little misleading since all four directly border D.C and much of urban Arlington is closer to Downtown D.C as much of it's actual neighborhoods. I think Rockville/ Reston are much better comparison's and even places like North Bethesda/ Tyson's Corner/ Annandale are better for Suburb vs. Inner City Houston comparison's.
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